Cap for receptacles



, 1,615,533 J 1927' i-. A. BROWN CAP FOR RECEPTACLES Filed Oct. 5 1925 r do Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

ED stares PATENT FRANK A. BRQW'N, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAI FOR RECEPTAGLES.

Application filed October 5, 1925. Serial no. 60,453.

threads gives an uneven pressure of the cap on the jar and permits air to enter the jars. This steep pitch has been standardized by the glass and cap associations and has been in universal use for fifty years. Millions of these jars and caps exist in the hands of glass and food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers and housewives and millions of dollars worth of food. has spoiled and been thrown out because of these faulty seals.

These caps are often applied by machines and adhere to the jars so tightly that much difficulty is experienced in removing them when desired. This difliculty is encountered more particularly by the housewife who often lacks suflicient strength to remove the cap and who is not supplied with any satisfactory mechanical means for this purpose. Furthermore, in attempting to remove a cap which is stuck or is so tightly secured as to resist ordinary efforts, there is constant danger of fracturing the jar, cutting the hand and distributing small pieces of glass in the contents of the jar.

It is the object of this invention to provide a jar cap of simple construction which can be easily applied to insure a perfect seal on 'jars having a steep or otherwise pitched screw thread, and which can be easily removed without the use of tools or other appliances and without danger of fracturing the jar, and in this connection is an improvement upon the patent of WV. E. Koss No. 1,463,145 granted to me July 24, 1923.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected embodiment of the invention Fig, 1 is a sectional elevation showing a portion of a glass jar with a cap applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the cap.

Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged sectional view indicating the approximate results of tapping the bead of the cap for the purposes of breaking a sticking seal.

Referring to the Figs. 1-3, 5 designates a glass jar and 6 is the top of the cap made in this embodiment in the form of a disk havmg a peripheral groove 7 adjacent its edge and a depending flange 8. A sealing medium 9 is seated in the groove '7 and I recommend. for this purpose the use'of a composition having the characteristics of soft rubber, which is deposited in. the groove and remains thereinnuich like the ordinary rubber sealing ring, to engage the edge of the mouth, of the bottle, as more clearly shown in Fig. I consider this composition sealfbetter than the rubber ring seal, but the latter may, be used if desired.

The outside flange 8 may depend sufiiciently to extend below the'edge ofthe moufltlrof the jar and the central. portion of the disk within the groove is preferably depressed;

An anchor collar 10 has a depending ring 11 which is threaded to engage the neck 12 of the which has a low pitched exterior thread. This collar is made in skeleton form with the top out out,,but with sufficient of the top left to form a flange 10 overlapping the grooved portion of the disk, At the top of the ring 11 there is a peripheral hollow bead 13 where this ring joins the flange 10.

In practice, the jar is filled with the preserves or other goods and then the disk 6 is applied to the mouth of the jar. As the goods cool a partial vacuum is formed in the jar, and this causes the disk to seat itself firmly evenly and securely upon the mouth of the jar and effect a perfect seal. Then the collar is screwed into place on the jar to anchor the disk and prevent its displacement. The anchor will be applied ordinarily by a machine operating generally under a predetermined pressure, and the intention is to make a tight fit without endangering the seal and without damaging the jar.

Sometimes this collar will be applied so tightly that it cannot be removed manually; also, some of the syrup, in the case of preserves, or brine in the case of pickles, is liable to become deposited on the interengaging surfaces of the jar and cap which will with age tend to make the cap stick unnecessarily on the jar. To enable the removal of the cap by a housewife, without the aid of any tools or appliances and without damaging the jar, I provide the bead 13 to be tapped with any instrument or struck against a table or some other object. It is not generally necessary to tap the cap sufli- IOU ciently hard to produce noticeable distortion, but light tapping at intervals around the bead is ordinarily sufficient to break the sticking seal so that the cap can be easily unscrewed. This light tapping may not produce a noticeable distortion, but it is believed that some degree of distortion will inevitably result from tapping, and in Fig. 3, I have indicated a degree of distortion which may result from tapping although so much distortion will not ordinarily be required.

l/Vhen the bead is tapped it tends to flatten, the lines of force being exerted downwardly against the first screw thread in the ring 11 of the cap and forward across the flange 10. The tendency of this tapping is to lift the flange portion 10 and thereby loosen the collar from the disk and the neck of the jar, that is to say, to break the seal, after which the collar can be easily removed by unscrewing. Then the disk can be removed by pulling it off of the jar or, it necessary, inserting a sharp instrument under the flange 8 and forcing it off.

While my invention is particularily adapted for sealing jars on hot-packed goods it can also be used on cold-packed goods; and the caps can be re-used by the housewife for re-sealing jars with the customary rubber ring.

I use the term jar herein to indicate a glass jar which is now commonly used for packing preserves, pickles and other hotpacked and cold-packed goods, but I intend also to include thereby any other form of receptacle for any food or other product for which the invention may be adapted; and I reserve the right to make all such changes in the form. construction, proportion and arrangement of parts as fairly fall within the scope of the following claim:

I claim:

A screw metal cap for receptacles and comprising a top member and a separate anchor collar, the top member having a central depressed portion and a peripheral groove about the depressed portion to re ceive the edge of the mouth the receptacle, a sealing medium seated in the groove to engage the edge of the mouth of the receptacle, the collar having a depending screw threaded attaching ring flatly engaging that portion of the top member which is provided with the groove, said flange having its inner edge terminating at the inner edge of the grooved portion of the top member, said ring having an outwardly directed hollow bead extending peripherally in the ring between the topmost thread and the flat top flange of the ring, whereby deformation of the bead by a blow thereon will displace an adjacent portion of the flange with respect to that portion of the top member with which said flange engages.

FRANK A. BROWN. 

